Don’t spend a lot of money on branding when you’re first starting out.
That’s right. I said it. And I’m a branding designer who helps businesses make large, strategic investments in branding.
But it’s different when you’re just starting out. Your short-term goal should be to have a brand that will be a starting point—and it’s probably not the time to invest thousands of dollars because 1) you most likely don’t have the revenue to justify that kind of investment and 2) you don’t necessarily know enough about your business to create a brand/logo that is strategic instead of rushed.
My advice: Stay lean until you get some traction with your business.
With a smart approach to do-it-yourself branding, you can lay a solid foundation that you can evolve from. And today I’m going to tell you how. But first…
Whether you’re a solopreneur or corporate marketing executive, you probably know that strategic design is good for business and can have significant impact on your bottom line. So if you’re spending thousands on a new brand identity or website, of course you want to make sure it’s a wise investment.
But if you’re looking for a dollar-based ROI when it comes to design, I have some bad news for you: It’s probably not going to happen.
Clients and prospects alike often tell me that they are sick of looking at their brand. They complain that everything looks the same. All of their printed collateral, their web site and corresponding PDF downloads, their social media graphics, etc… ALL LOOK THE SAME! They are frankly bored with their brand identity, and want to change it up due to some perceived notion that everyone else is getting bored with it too.
Here’s the thing: If you are sick and tired of looking at your brand, then you are doing it right.
So, you are ready to move forward on that big project (brand identity, annual report, website, ad campaign, etc.) yet you are not sure where to begin. You tell your designer what you want and he goes forth and designs it with little to no information. The problem is that he doesn’t have a shred of information that will help him create something that is going to be effective, if at all usable or suitable for your audience. He won’t know what resources to use because he doesn’t know your budget. He doesn’t know whom you are targeting so it’s a shot in the dark to create something that will be effective for that specific market. That’s where a creative brief comes in.
American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) is the world’s oldest professional safety society. ASSE promotes the expertise, leadership and commitment of its members, while providing them with professional development, advocacy and standards development. The Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the association that facilitates education, scholarships, and growth within the profession.
Back when I officially started my company (2005), I needed a website. So, I set up a quick landing page for my company and stated that because I was too busy with my clients’ work, I didn’t have a fully functioning website. I figured visitors would think I was so busy and successful that I didn’t have the time to create a proper website, and they would flock to work with me because I was so busy. You know the saying… “the cobblers children have no shoes”, right? WRONG!
The truth is—not only was I lying to my potential clients—I was lying to myself.
A logo design contest site is basically an online marketplace where people or businesses looking to have a logo designed, post the project/contest to the site along with some requirements and prize dollar amount—usually miniscule. The members, usually consisting of thousands of designers, proceed to design potentially hundreds of options for the contest holder to choose from, typically by a specified due date. The contest holder then either chooses a logo and “rewards” the winner with the prize, or decides there is no winner and the project is reposted for more designs until he gets one that he likes. That’s it in a nutshell.
Sounds like a great deal…hundreds of design options to choose from and only a few bucks, right? Not so fast!
The dictionary defines art as “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture.” It then defines Design as “A plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is built or made.”
Kind of vague, huh? Well to put it simply, art isn’t always design and some design can be art. Still vague? Well it inherently is. There is definitely some gray area between the two.
This post was going to start out as a Sketchbook Bingo post but since the page I turned to in one of my sketchbooks were concept sketches for a past project, I decided to quickly show the process of concepting, sketching, word mapping and refinement, etc. to final refined design.
This was an identity project I did a couple years ago for a recruitment firm. You can see the word mapping I used to generate ideas, and several sketches, as well as the one sketch that went on to be refined as the final. This particular logo was one of a few I presented, and while this direction wasn’t chosen, I thought it represented the company and its core values quite nicely. The logo that was chosen is here.
You want to tell the world about your business. Your website home page is full of the important facts people need to know, and other pages on the site are just as detailed. But, somehow, your website rarely results in phone calls or e-mails from new leads.
As a copywriter, this is a common complaint I hear from new clients and business acquaintances. As long as you know your audience (and their hot-button needs), and can articulate them in writing, you’re all set. You have one foot on the path to getting regular leads and sales from your website. Best of all, it only takes a couple of simple adjustments to make it happen.
Don’t spend a lot of money on branding when you’re first starting out.
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